Category: alpine

Trip report by BestHike editor Rick McCharles.

Yoho Lake was the site of the original Alpine Club of Canada camp in 1906.

Early alpinists climbed Mt Wapta (south) and Michaels Peak (north).

Returning from our Twin Falls hike, we resupplied at the vehicles parked at the Takakkaw Falls trailhead.

Then started with great views over to Takakkaw , the second highest Falls in Canada.

One of our group forgot his sunglasses at the lookout.

ET and I asked some hikers going the other direction to see if they could find them. And it worked! We found them on ET’s vehicle 2 days later.

We climbed steadily up to the lake on a route that many switchbacks.

More wildflowers here than on the Twin Falls side.

You catch a glimpse en route of Hidden Lake.

Here’s a first look at Yoho lake.

Yoho lake is deep emerald green, more so than Emerald lake.

You’d have to be CRAZY to swim.

Warren set up a cook tarp to protect from sun and rain.

It’s a peaceful campground.

Next morning we had one deer hang around the tents.  I assume he was salt deprived, looking for urine.

We took a day hike to look down on to Emerald lake.

There are some impressive waterfalls en route.

Warren and I decided to extend the walk and circumambulate Emerald lake.  (Actually, we had originally planned to return via Burgess Pass trail — but it seemed to be unsigned and closed in 2020.). So we walked around Emerald lake and back the way we came.

The only difficult section was about a half hour of flooded alluvial plain.

Once back in camp we found our group had decided to hike out a day early.  Forecast was for big storm.

Rather than camp at the Takakkaw Falls campground, we instead drove to Banff and enjoyed a dry night at the Hidden Ridge resort.

Another great hiking adventure.  🙂

Rock walls and waterfalls.

Trip report by BestHike editor Rick McCharles.

Though Banff and Jasper are more famous internationally, locals like myself consider Yoho National Park even better for hiking.

Golden is the nearest town.  Calgary the nearest international airport.

We parked at the Takakkaw Falls trailhead.

Takakkaw 254 metres (833 ft) is the 2nd tallest waterfall in Canada.

Friends from the flat lands of Saskatchewan schedule a hiking holiday every year. I tagged along, eventually joining their COVID-19 bubble.

As we set off, weather was deteriorating.

And, as so often the case in the Rockies in summer, we were soon hiding in the trees from a hail storm.

Warren considers bad weather an interesting challenge. And it was this day.

Last year the group had camped here at Laughing Falls.

We pushed on in the rain.

On arrival at Twin Falls campground, Warren set up a tarp.  This camp is about 6.7 km   from the trailhead. And about 100m elevation gain.

We hung our food as bears are always a concern in the Rockies.

The main sites were quite wet so we placed our tents on dryer ground as much as possible.

Happily, next morning was sunnier.

The BIG downside in 2020 — it’s been a terrible mosquito year.

Twin Falls is a lovely hiking area.

Here’s a first look at Twin Falls.

Twin Falls Tea House was closed this year due to COVID-19. It was extensively renovated in 2005 and will be again this season.

Rock walls and waterfalls.

We had plenty of switchbacks getting to the top of the Whaleback ridge.

Lunch at the top.

I used my Peakfinder app to confirm the names of surrounding mountains.

The highlight of the hike was Twin Falls. Both top and bottom.

Hikers have died falling from here. One survived 45 minutes in the freezing whirlpool before finally being rescued.

Click PLAY or watch a short video of our adventure on YouTube.